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New satellite photos published by a group investigating the human rights abuses in North Korea have confirmed that secret prisons where detainees are tortured, raped and murdered are expanding in terms of size.

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said the photos it obtained, with the help of AllSource Analysis, a leading global provider of high-resolution Earth imagery solutions, affirmed previous fears that North Korea's infamous Camp No. 25, believed to be keeping around 5,000 political prisoners, is growing.

As the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea explained, political prisoners in Camp No. 25 and other such camps are among the "primary targets of a systematic and widespread attack" by the regime of Kim Jong Un.

In these prisons, people are subjected to "murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political grounds, and the enforced disappearance of persons," according to the commission.

While the identities of the prisoners in that particular camp are not known, several persecution watchdog groups, including Open Doors USA, have long been documenting the intense persecution religious minorities face in the country, particularly Christians.